The present invention refers to a plate heat exchanger including a number of heat exchanger plates, which are substantially parallel to an extension plane and arranged adjacent to each other in a plate package, a first end plate and a second end plate, which are substantially parallel to said extension plane and arranged on a respective side of the plate package, and a device for keeping the plate package together in such a way that the heat exchanger plates abut each other. The invention also refers to a method for manufacturing a plate heat exchanger.
Such plate heat exchangers usually designed with thicker end plates, which are called frame plate and pressure plate, respectively. The plate package is kept together between these two plates by means of a number of tie bolts extending through the frame plate and the pressure plate beside the plate package. Since the plate package in may applications should be able to resist high inner pressures, the frame plate and the pressure plate become very thick and heavy. This means that the whole plate heat exchanger becomes heavy and expensive.
DK-B-171 246 also discloses a plate heat exchanger of the kind initially defined with a number of heat exchanger plates, which are substantially parallel to an extension plane and arranged beside each other in a plate package, a first end plate and a second end plate, which are substantially parallel to said extension plane and arranged on a respective side of the plate package. The plate heat exchanger includes two U-shaped sheets for keeping the plate package together and pressing the heat exchanger plates against each other. Each of the U-shaped sheets includes two legs extending from the main plane of the plates and being inclined towards each other. These legs engage and are introduced into external grooves of the end plates when the plate heat exchanger is mounted.